Moody Mistress's Journal

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Then you start entertaining such a terrible thought...life is so very short

I know when I overreact to things. Sometimes I feel like talking endlessly about things that just aren't that important. The oddest things inspire me to rant. I'm going to do this now, in regard to a comment that probably no one's paid much attention to but me.

In the recent Rolling Stone interview with Elvis Costello, this was said...

"...'And I have no concern for posterity. I believe when you're gone, you're gone.' You have no interest in the legacy you'll leave behind? 'No. The only reason I would is if there is anybody here I want to take care of, who would earn some money from it. In terms of reputation, who cares? I won't be here.' If you're not worried about posterity, who are you making records for? 'Anyone who will listen.' "

I know this could be taken as a perfectly reasonable thing to say, which it is, actually. But it does bug me that he doesn't seem to care to realise the importance of what he's spent his life doing. First of all, he is going to be remembered whether that's important to him or not. He's going to have a "legacy" whether he wants to or not. He doesn't have to carry on with his career with the intent of building up something memorable, but it does mean something to other people. People want him to be remembered.

"When you're gone, you're gone" is, to put this delicately, a load of crap. A person may be physically gone, but if they've made any kind of impact then being completely "gone" in any sense of that word is just not going to happen.

I don't know why this bothers me. Probably because I haven't weaned myself from more sentimental people and their interviews. Maybe because I want to shy away from the idea of life being so short. Maybe I'm not even qualified to be so cruel about one little innocuous comment that someone made--someone who I won't have even had an interest in for a full year until the end of this October. If I didn't expect him to be cynical and/or pessimistic, I wouldn't even know who he was.

But, all right--he does it for "anyone who will listen." This is something I agree with. But people will still be listening long after he's "gone." I'm sure he appreciates the "legacies," musical or otherwise, of people who've come before.

But the people who are listening right now? Well, that's us, hun, and we love you. Get over it. You will never be "gone." People will be listening and remembering forever. Your legacy is already built and you really should realise that and appreciate what you've done, done for posterity or not. Because if you don't, you're just downgrading yourself. And that's ridiculous.

Posted by moodymistress at 9/30/2004 05:53:00 PM |